The Best Birthday Ever
by RisanF
Summary: Hoagie is late for Laura Limpin's birthday party, making her "upset." However, he has the best birthday gift of all for her. Hoagie/Laura
1. The Best Birthday Ever

**The Best Birthday Ever**

**A KND quickie by Reid M. Haynes**

_Disclaimer: Codename: Kids Next Door is the property of Mr. Waburton and the Cartoon Network, as well as all characters within. I am using them without permission, and I am making no money off of them._

* * *

The wreckage of the Chuck E. Cheese's building hung open in the strip center; a gash in the heart of middle class America. The rafters were dangling like party streamers, and the waxed floor was scattered with birthday cake, cotton stuffing from plush dolls, and circuit boards from broken game machines. Ol' Chuck the singing mouse robot has been torn limb from limb, his smiling head hanging from the end of his neck. A fallen guardian for a sanctuary of children's innocence.

Glowing in a sunbeam from the shattered ceiling was a young Afro American girl on the cusp of adolescence, her pigtails in disarray and her glasses hanging on the tip of her nose. A conical party hat sat mockingly on her head, and the pink party dress she wore was tattered and torn. Her hands were balled into little fists, her cheeks streaked from the tears that had been pouring from her eyes. To anyone wise to her sadness, it looked like she was about to start crying again.

Resting on her lap was a plate of birthday cake, the frosting mixed in with the batter, and its cheerful "Happy Birthday Laura" message smashed into illegibility. Some of the candles had even gotten crumbled up inside the cake, yet the girl continued spooning it into her mouth regardless. "I...love...birthday cake," she choked out, her mouth gumming up with candle wax. She wiped her eyes in frustration, a bit of anger mingled with her tears.

The establishment groaned from its wounds, as the torn masonry and debris settled into itself. A single skee-ball lost its place on a counter top, rolling like a marble across the filthy floor. The battered stuffed animals stared accusingly at the girl, some with only one eye. They could have been a child's prize right now...if not for the Badolescent.

"Yo, Laura!" A voice shook the weakened foundation, its boisterous tone in stark contrast with the shattered heaven of the amusement facility. Sniffing quickly, Laura raised her head to find Hoagie Gilligan braving the decidingly unsafe conditions of the Chuck E. Cheese's to reach her. The boy had lost weight over the years; he was still heavy, but his descent into puberty had overall been kind to him. Nevertheless, he still exuded his apple-pie charm, and Laura couldn't help but smile when she saw him, even after everything that had happened.

"Hey, what's goin' on?" Hoagie dispensed with preamble at he strode over to her side. "You lose control again or somethin'?"

"Hi, Hoagie," she greeted him, offering him a broken smile. "Yeah, I kinda wrecked everything."

"No kiddin'!" The young inventor of the Kids Next Door whistled as he took in the wanton destruction. "You really did a number on this place!" He got a closer look at her face, and sobered up. "Wanna talk about it?" he offered, sitting down on the bench beside her.

"The party wasn't very good, and it was my first birthday party," Laura explained, as if discussing the weather. "My Skunky Scout troop was out of town, so I didn't really know anybody there, and they all ran anyway when I turned into the Big Badolescent. The crane game wouldn't give me a prize, and you weren't there."

"Uh, about that Laura..." Hoagie cringed, rubbing the back of his head. "Listen, I..."

"You weren't there," she interrupted him, a dangerous twitch in her eye. Hoagie gulped.

Suddenly, Laura thrust her face into his. "I WANTED YOU TO BE THERE FOR MY BIRTHDAY, AND YOU WERE GONE!" she screamed in a unearthly voice, the sheer force of her vocal cord blowing back the flaps on Hoagie's WW1 pilot gear. "AND I HATE COCONUT CAKE!" She hurled her plate of cake across the room, which splattered on the floor like gore from a crime scene.

But just as soon as it began, it ended, and her enraged expression was dampened by intense heartbreak. With a sob, the girl crumpled into herself, her arms resting on her legs. Hoagie said nothing, but placed a hand on her shoulder, and waited. They sat like this for a full minute, until Laura had gotten herself together enough to talk again.

"I'm getting older, Hoagie," she finally told him, her voice surprisingly calm considering her earlier outburst. "And I can't control my temper. I'm older, but I can't control my temper..." The rest of the confession had drifted into unintelligible mumbling, her eyes glued to the floor.

Hoagie got the gist of it, nonetheless. "Hey, shut up," he barked, grabbing Laura by the shoulders and giving her a good shake. "You haven't had a transformation in six months, and you've never hurt me, so cut it out already."

He smiled warmly at her, as the girl slowly lifted her eyes towards his. "You'll get better at it, I know you will." he told her. "You're doing really good at therapy, too. At least, that's what your mom says."

"Yeah, the therapist's really nice," she said, her cheer from earlier today making a comeback. "She even had an apple-shaped stress remover in her room. And I love my group therapy friends Berry and Veronica."

"So perk up!" He flashed a toothy grin at her, pumping his fist. "You're the star of the day, kid!"

Laura gave him her first real smile. "Oh Hoagie, you're so cool!" she gushed, all sunshine and rainbows. "I forgive you for being late!"

"Yeah, sorry about that," he apologized, his own shame revealing itself on his face. "I wanted to cram in a quick game of Smash with the guys. They weren't invited, so...sorry."

"Why d'ja do that?" Laura asked. There was no longer any accusation in her voice; just curiosity.

"Cuz' I'm gonna leave the KND, that's why," he said, turning away from her quickly. His expression darkened, and Laura looked at him with a frown.

"My birthday's a day after yours, and since I'm turning thirteen, the KND's got me down for a brain wipe tomorrow," he explained, a sense of gravity forming around him. "I'll forget about all my memories of the organization's secrets, my friends, pro'bly a lot of my tech skill too. I'm startin' over from scratch, like it all never happened. I just wanted one more day with Numbuh One, Numbuh Five, and the others."

Catching a flash of movement in the corner of her eye, Laura looked down to find Hoagie rummaging through his pocket. "After today, you'll be the only one I have left," he told her with a sad smile. "All my best friends are in the KND, except you. But I gotta do what I can to keep ya." Her eyes caught the shine before she could make out its shape, but she soon saw the gold ring resting in Hoagie's palm.

"It's just a Cracker Jack prize, but I thought it looked cool." The boy grinned sheepishly. "I..um...you wanna be my girlfriend and stuff?"

The answer came to her instantly. Oh wow Hoagie, this is so cool!" Laura burst out, her hand closing around the ring. "I will, I will be your girlfriend!" She rushed into his arms with a fierce hug. "Birthday boyfriend, birthday boyfriend!"

"Hang on, your birthday's not over yet!" Hoagie gasped out, even as he patted Laura on the back. He managed to free himself from Laura's grasp. "I got something else for you."

Hoagie reached round and brought up the shopping bag that Laura had just noticed was slung over his shoulder. "Numbuh Three heard about what happened, so she let me borrow this." he babbled dumbly, fumbling with the contents of the bag. "Uh, this is hers."

Laura gasped as he pulled out the gift. Presented before her was a bright blue party dress, with puffed sleeves, a wide skirt, and a white sash around the waist. The style felt 1950s, similar to the one she had put on for the party, but this dress was pristine and fresh, and with enough personality to keep it from looking like the Delightful Children's garb. "It's beautiful," he told him, her voice deep and reverent. She took the outfit from his hands and breathed in the fabric like it was the first flowers of springtime.

An uncomfortable blush appeared on Hoagie's face; perhaps he had reached his limit for WAFF. "Yeah, I'm sure it'll fit," he hurried out, giving her shoulder a friendly shake. "Why don't I get this place fixed up, and we can have a quick dance. Ya wanna dance with me, right?" He winked at her, giving her a look that would been more suitable for a guy with a rose in his mouth.

Laura took it at face value, nonetheless. "Uh huh!" she agreed. "I'll go get changed right now!" With dress in tow, she scampered over to the restrooms across, hurdling over the remaining wreckage like a world class athlete.

Hoagie watched her go with a small smile. Then, he jerked up again. "Hey, you wanna change your shoes or something?" he called out to her. "You're still wearing those stupid Mary Janes, aren'cha."

"I'm in the bathroom, Hoagie!" she shouted from inside the restroom. "A woman needs her privacy!"

"Yeesh, sorry!" he groaned. The boy slouched over and leaned his cheek on his fist. "She sure is getting older, all right."

* * *

In ten minutes time, the center of the Chuck E. Cheese's had been cleared out, leaving a large space for dancing. Hoagie had pushed the skee-ball machines and the basketball games to the side, aided by the new strength he had developed over the years. Right now, he was hard at work with his tools, refitting the broken Chuck E. Cheese robot with new hardware. Already he had gotten the sound circuitry working, and he had even wired his MP3 player to it.

"It's not perfect, but that should do it," he affirmed with a final twitch of the wrench. "I'm a genius, all right." Chuck still looked like a refugee from "Invasion of the Trash Zombies", but he had regained his dignity. No matter how grizzly you looked, if you could hold your head up high, you were alright in this world.

The pitter-patter of feet got his attention, and Hoagie turned to find Laura running up at him, her dress bouncing about at her knees. "I'm ready!" she cried, skidding to a stop three feet in front of him. "Thanks for waiting!"

Hoagie goggled at her: the dress fit her growing form surprisingly well for a hand-me-down. Briefly, he wondered whether she would actually be taller then him in a few years. "Lookin' good!" he said instead, snapping his fingers at her. "You'll give Numbuh Five a run for her money."

"I'm your girlfriend!" she giggled, putting her hands on her hips. "No talkin' about other girls!"

He chuckled in kind. "Right."

He took her hand, and escorted her onto the dance floor. With the grace their parents had drilled into them at dance class, they bowed to each other; Laura pinching the skirt of her dress in a curtsey. They maneuvered into each other's arms, with Hoagie's fingers clutching her waist, and Laura's arm around his back. Before they clasped hands, however, Hoagie whipped out a remote towards the robot he had just fixed. "Hit it, Chuck!"

With a brief jerk, the mechanical Chuck E. Cheese was alive once more, his eyes alight with the illusion of intelligence. With his fingers pantomiming a rock guitar, he started to 'sing' a number off of Hoagie's playlist. It was "Back in the High Life Again" by Steve Winwood, something that Hoagie's parents had listened to a lot when they were young. The song was just fresh enough that the two kids could dance to it without feeling like fuddy-duddys.

Hoagie and Laura moved around the dance floor with surprising grace for their age. Their moves were simple with no frills, although Hoagie turned Laura through a few impressive twirls now and again. He kept her close throughout the dance. After all, he would be doing so from now on.

"Hey Hoagie?" Laura piped up, leaning in closer to him.

"Yeah?" He smiled at her.

"This is the best birthday ever," she told him, pressing her face into his shirt.

END


	2. Burger Time

**Burger Time**

* * *

"Hoooo-eee!" the spry teen crowed, causing a few patrons of Burger Bill's to glance up. "Hoagie Gilligan, bringin' the goods!" Flipping the bill of his baseball cap, Hoagie proceeded down the crosswalk with his payload; a stash of burgers and fries, four medium colas, all perched precariously at various positions in his arms. It was a slight discomfort, but he ignored this and the roller-bladers to the right of him as he made his way towards the park and his friends sitting at the picnic table.

Carlos and Tammy were busy fighting again, as they did nearly every time their little gang got together. From the shouts of "traitor" emanating from the table, Hoagie guessed that Tammy probably brought up Carlos' favorite novelty shop, the one that got replaced by the retro 80s aerobics studio Tammy worked at. Hoagie's main squeeze Laura was sitting listlessly out of the line of fire, showing no particular interest in the squabbling. The bespectacled girl played absently with the braid over her shoulder; a spiffy change from the pigtails she wore as a kid.

"You just don't get it, Tammy!" Carlos slammed his hands on the table, causing Tammy's can of Lite-Salt to bounce three inches. "It's the Street Fighter Alpha series that revolutionized the fighting game genre!"

Hoagie had been wrong. Apparently, the old fighting game argument had reared its ugly head. "That's stupid," Tammy drolled, rolling her eyes. "Nobody outside of your niche group likes Alpha over Mortal Kombat."

"You take that back!" Carlos shook his finger at Tammy's nose, which wrinkled in derision of the digit.

Arriving at the table, Hoagie cut off the quarreling couple by placing the burger bags between them. "Cool your jets and look alive!" he cried, smiling broadly. "It's grub time!"

Immediately stopping their argument, Carlos and Tammy dug into Hoagie's haul, each grabbing a burger and drink for themselves. "Burger Bill's still got the stuff!" Carlos said in between mouthfuls of meat. "Classic old school burger action!"

"Pretty sure you're thinkin' of Burger Time, there..." Hoagie mumbled as he settled into his seat beside Laura. Looking over at his girl, he saw that she hadn't even reached for any food yet. "You alright, cutie?"

Laura said nothing, but instead handed him a small flyer she had apparently got from a newspaper. Hoagie regarded the Chuck E. Cheese ad casually, coasting over the guitar-wielding mouse up front before realizing what she was getting at. "Oh yeah, they changed the mascot for Chuck E. Cheese," he said, putting down the flyer in favor of a burger. "What about it?"

"He used to be a Brooklyn mouse, but now he's a rock-'n'-roll mouse," Laura muttered, her eyes ducking down behind her glasses. "My sacred childhood memories are ruined."

Then, her eyes bulged almost out of her head. "SACRED CHILDHOOD MEMORIES RUINED!" she hollered, sending a flock of pigeons flying away from her in a flurry of feathers.

Carlos and Tammy absently watched the pigeons go, used to Laura's outbursts by now. "Personally, I always thought they should bring back the Showbiz Pizza name," Carlos added as an aside, watching Laura hyperventilate.

"C'mon, Laura!" Hoagie patted the girl on the back in a manner he hoped wasn't too patronizing. "You gotta let a new generation of kids get their kicks!"

"But it's so different..." Laura implored him with the puppy dog eyes that always made a sucker out of him. "Doncha get tired of things going away, Hoagie?"

"Sorta, but different can be fun, too." Hoagie argued, his eyes. "I used to hate veggie burgers before I tried them. But I got used to 'em, and now I don't even care about the barbecue stand shutting down for health violations. And hey, the pizza at Chuck E. Cheese's still good, right?"

"I guess so..." she relented, though Hoagie could tell she wasn't quite convinced.

"Laura, there a whole world out there!" the boy insisted, raised his rootbeer as if making a toast. "You don't always have to stick to the same old thing all the time! Beside, we're here you help ya make it out okay." Here, he cocked his eyebrow in a debonair manner. "I'm your sexy beefcake, remember?"

Laura giggled as Hoagie gave her a kiss on the side of her head. Tammy groaned, going back to her burger again. "Serious PDA, dudes," she complained, closing her eyes to shut out the mushy scene.

"Say, Hoag, didn't you quit a pretty big thing something a few years ago?" Carlos interjected. "Some advanced...hockey league or something?"

He put down his rootbeer to answer, but was interrupted by a screaming sound that shook the picnic table and caused some loose fries to fly into the street. Carlos and Tammy gathered up their goodies to protect them in the ensuing windstorm, but Hoagie stared upwards at the commotion, sifting through his bangs with his hand. A large aircraft cobbled together from the remains of a school bus and jetliner was streaking through the sky, propelled by large turbine engines that released twin gray smoke streamers in their wake. Commanding the vessel, just barely visible behind the wheel of the bus, was a small, yet stern looking boy wearing the number "2" on his headgear.

Hoagie stared after the aircraft for a moment more, his eyes squinting as it flew into the clouds and out of sight. Then, a slow smile grew on his face, and for a moment, he looked for all the world like a forty-year-old man. The tousle-haired teen felt a soft hand slip into his own, and he remembered Laura beside him. She was smiling as well, the eyes he knew so well glinting with support and affection.

"Something wrong, Hoagie?" Tammy asked, breaking up their reverie for the moment. "You guys look like you're in outer space."

Hoagie shook his head with a grin. "Ah, it's ancient history," he said, giving Laura a glance and a squeeze of his fingers. "Gotta live for the now, you know. Right, Laura?"

She nodded. "Right!"


End file.
